Lot
99

A CYCLADIC MARBLE FEMALE FIGURE

EARLY CYCLADIC I/II (PRECANONICAL PHASE), CIRCA 2800-2700 B.C.

A CYCLADIC MARBLE FEMALE FIGURE
EARLY CYCLADIC I/II (PRECANONICAL PHASE), CIRCA 2800-2700 B.C.
Sculpted with an oval face, flat at the top, terminating in a slightly pointed chin, the nose and brows in shallow relief, the neck delineated from the angled shoulders by an incised groove, the arms bent sharply at the elbows and folded just below the breasts, the proper left slightly higher than the right, the inguinal lines of the incised pubic triangle bisected by the upper end of the deep cleft dividing the finely-contoured legs, the rounded thighs tapering to the knees, below which the legs separate, the calves defined, the feet flat
5 7/16 in. (13.8 cm.) long

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Lot essay

During the Precanonical Phase, Cycladic sculpture underwent a critical change as the folded-arm figure developed. According to Getz-Gentle (Personal Styles in Early Cycladic Sculpture, p. 16), "the sculptors of precanonical images were transitional in spirit - often still keenly attentive to the subtleties of naturalistic form and detail, but at the same time receptive to new ideas, both iconographic and practical."

Cataloguing & details

Provenance

George Livanos, New York.
Gift to the violinist Marcia Van Dyke, 1960-1961.